The curtain will be brought down on a sparkling career in Coventry tomorrow when Stephen Cooper says farewell to the club and to ice hockey.

Cooper spent the final two seasons of his 20-year career with Blaze, and his number 55 shirt is being retired in honour of his contribution to the sport.

Normally shirts are only retired when a player has one period of unbroken service with a club, but the Blaze directors decided that Cooper was worthy of the gesture.

The ceremony will take place at tomorrow?s game with Cardiff Devils, the club where Cooper cemented his reputation as the best British defenceman ever to take to the ice. Face-off is at 6pm and tickets are available on 024 7663 0693.

Cooper, who lives in Oldham, will be bringing his family to the event, and said he is looking forward to an emotional night.

?My parents are coming down from Durham. My mum and dad haven?t seen me play for a number of years, so the fact that they are travelling down shows it is a big occasion for us all. In the later years of my career I moved around a little bit so I didn?t think this would ever happen.?

The 35-year-old, who won a string of trophies with Cardiff and Durham in the 1980s and 1990s, can expect to see a solid contest between the Blaze and the Devils.

Coventry are enjoying a winning streak, having won 4-0 at Solihull and 6-3 at home to Basingstoke last weekend.

Cardiff have a strong roster after a year of political problems saw them reduced to using junior players.

But the expensively-assembled throng will be playing for their contracts after a series of disappointing results.

The heat could be turned up further by tonight?s encounter between the two sides in Cardiff.

Blaze look forward to welcoming Mathias Soderstrom back to the side after he suffered a shoulder injury in the first game of the season.

Knee injury victim Shaun Johnson remains doubtful.

There will be an added bite to proceedings, with Ashley Tait coming up against his younger brother Warren for the first time ever in a competitive game.

Coach Paul Thompson said the weekend would be Cooper?s but he is also looking for four points.

?We are all looking forward to seeing him again and recognising what he has been as a player. ?I?m expecting Cardiff to play a lot harder than they have been. They?ve dropped points and we have to be ready for any type of backlash.

?Everyone thought they would come in and start getting results straight away, but it takes time for a totally new team to gel and they are going through that process.?